Some 3,000 priests have gathered here to hold a two-year-long yagna (religious ritual) where they will chant hymns for divine intervention to tackle the global financial crisis.
RAMOSANA (Gujarat): Nobody is sure what it would take for the global financial crisis to end. But efforts are on in this small village in Gujarat’s Mehsana district to put in money, manpower and time to try and turn things around.
Some 3,000 priests have gathered here to hold a two-year-long yagna (religious ritual) where they will chant hymns for divine intervention to tackle the global financial crisis. The price tag: Rs 150 crore
Priests from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and different parts of Gujarat are in Madhavnagar locality of Ramosana for this ritual, which began 15 days back. They are sitting around 109 sacrificial fires and chanting hymns to appease goddess Meldi, urging her to restore prosperity and world peace.
Surprisingly, none of the villagers at Mehsana, about 75 km from Ahmedabad, know much about the sub-prime crisis in the United States that triggered a world-wide slump in stock prices.
But the Koti Chandi Mahayagna Seva Samiti (KCMSS), which is organising the ritual, claims it is the first ever yagna (sacrificial ritual) to be performed at such a large scale that would continue for two years at an approximate cost of Rs 150 crore.
“The yagna will continue uninterruptedly for two years. The first phase of the yagna will end after 10 million Chandi Path slokas (hymns) in praise of goddess Meldi have been uttered invoking divine blessings,” said Dahyabhai Patel, convener and trustee of KCMSS.
Said Shari Ratnesh Jha, a priest invited to perform the rites: “It is unprecedented. I have never come across such big havans before.”
The second phase will need another 365 days for performing the ahuti (offering ghee and grains) into the 109 ‘havan kunds’ that nestle under the vast pandals, Patel said.
“It is indeed historical as this sort of yagna is found only in religious texts. Only Hindu emperors of yore performed them,” said Kailasnath Chandralekh, another priest.
Pradyuman Shashtri, the head priest from Mehsana, says this is the greatest moment of his life and that the ritual is sure to have positive results.
“I am sure Goddess Meldi will fulfil the desires of the people,” he said.
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